Crock Weekly 2

I recently read on New York Times about Mrs. Mu Sochua, an ardent woman of Cambodia campaigning for female rights. She is one among the new generations of women in Asia starting to overcome the deep-seated patriarchal culture. Many others attempt to transform the musical landscape through rock and roll. Here are a few of Chinese bands with female members:

This is the band Hedgehog, which has the female drummer Atom. Even though her size seems at first comical in front of the drum set, her skills at it are explosive.

Next up, Queen Sea Big Shark. The lead female singer Fu Han contributes an immense energy and throws her frantic vocals against the tight rhythms of the bass and drum.

Finally, Carsick Cars. Its female drummer Zhong Qiu has a lot of finesse and is instrumental in keeping the sound together.

These girls/women carry a heavy momentum toward the cultural liberation of females in China through their display of skills and power in music matching, if not surpassing, those of male bandmates. A round of applause, please.

Happy Chinese New Year!/Crock Weekly 1

Well, it's Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year! It's also the anniversary of me getting off the boat and my granddad's birthday. Cool!

Here's what I decided for this new year: normally, analysis takes too long to set up and write, so now I'm going to add a new feature called Crock Weekly and showcase some Chinese rock each week with some brief descriptions rather than long verbose analysis.

Today I'm bringing 3 songs of the spring:

First off, Spring Story by Secondhand Rose. SR is a famous cross-dressing band in China. It combines folk singing styles characteristic of Northeast China with rock instrumentation, a quite unique blend of Western and Eastern flavors. Avant garde, to say the least.

Next, Spring's Here by Hedgehog. It has a certain energy and freshness that do render the coming of spring exciting.

Finally, on the harder spectrum, Spring Story by The Fly. Not exactly sure which category of metal would this fall in. It has a weird vocal combined with odd meters. The riff's catchy, however.

Hope you'll enjoy them!

PS: I've not forgotten about my promise of an entry on Chinese censorship and oppression :D